Ringly Lets You Know Who’s Calling By The Buzz Of Your Finger

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Christina Mercando was a busy gal working her way through the eBay product department. Problem was friends and family could never get a hold of her.

Some women have the habit of keeping their phones deep in the recesses of their purses, thus never catching that text and missing when their moms call. So one day while Mercando was looking down at the rings on her hands and thinking about her phone dilemma, lightning struck. If women with this habit were to ever know when someone was trying to get a hold of them without digging through their purse, they would simply need to put a ring on it.

Enter Ringly, a truly wearable fashion technology in the form of finger jewelry. This high-tech ring actually buzzes and lights up when you get a phone call or text or even when someone likes your Instagram.

Mercando raised about $1 million from First Round Capital, Andreessen Horowitz and PCH for her fledgling company last August. Now she and co-founder Logan Munro hope to raise about $60K cash in a pre-sale launch today to fund production of the company’s first batch of rings.

You can design the details you want for each alert within the Ringly phone app so you’ll know who’s calling by the color or buzz on your ring. Basically anything you get a notification about you can customize to alert you. For instance, you can also create notifications for when someone likes your Facebook post or when your Uber arrives.

The ring runs on a battery that will go for about a 2-3 day charge and comes with an app that supports both iOS and Android. The first batch of rings are from the design mind of FIT alumni Annie Harlingen. They’ll come in just four different stones in sizes 6, 7 and 8 for now and have names like “into the woods” and “star gazing.”

Rings are priced at $145 and will ship this fall. Mercando says she hopes to be able to offer more designs and smaller rings as the ring tech improves in the future.